


Family Gathering

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: Everyone Needs a Clarissa [2]
Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1990s, Barbecue, F/F, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28709634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: Christina doesn't like people. She's struggled most of her life with the concept of family. Then why on Earth did she agree to this family gathering?
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Series: Everyone Needs a Clarissa [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2104548
Comments: 5
Kudos: 56





	Family Gathering

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I woke up an hour late and I have class in ten minutes so this is an express posting!  
> First I wanted to thank all of you for the many awesome comments I received yesterday! Not since elementary school had so many people wished me a Happy Birthday!  
> This story is set in 1996, Nelly is about 14 months old and I'll let you discover the rest for yourself! As usual, I hope you enjoy this story, and let me know what your favorite moment or line was! This one is full of quite a few of them, I think!

Christina had been waiting by the phone all afternoon for what she imagined might just be one of the most important phone calls of her life. Which was why she was slightly annoyed when Devon ended up calling instead.

  
"Hey, Christina!"

  
"Why are you calling?" she asked, legitimately surprised.

  
Her mother called at least once a week to talk, even though they saw each other often enough and they lived not twenty minutes from each other. Christina had come to accept it as something mothers did. But Devon never called, ever.

  
"We're organizing a family gathering at home for the 4th of July and your mother said I should call you to ask if you wanted to come."

  
Just as she was processing the information, she heard something fall in the staircase. She waited, but when nothing followed, she assumed it must have been Nelly throwing toys out of her playpen.

  
"What do you mean by family gathering?" she asked.

  
She heard something else fall, pulling her out of the conversation. Meanwhile, Devon explained:

  
"All my sisters should be there with their families. My father too. It's a lot of people and I know you don't particularly like large crowds, which is why I thought your mother should ask you but she said since I was organizing everything... anyway, do you guys want to come? A few of my nephews and nieces are around Nelly's age, she could play with other kids her age..."

  
Something once again fell, and Christina couldn't ignore the growing worry in her chest anymore.

  
"Devon? Do you mind calling back in an hour, maybe? I need to check on Nelly."

  
"Oh, sure. Of course..."

  
Christina hung up and left her office.

  
"Nelly?" she called out as if the toddler would reply.

  
She made her way up the stairs and found letter blocks in the stairs. She could have sworn those had been left in Nelly's bedroom. She picked them up as she continued her climb up. Nelly was seating at the top of the stairs, trapped behind the baby gate, her toy blocks beside her. She was struggling to get one through the bars. The soft plastic of the toy bent through the bars and fell on the stairs, hopping down a few steps. Christina sighed.

  
"How did you get out of the playpen?" she asked.

  
She dropped the cubes and reached for the one-year-old over the gate, picking her up. Nelly laughed and began babbling.

  
"Can you show me?"

  
Christina led the baby back to her bedroom. With the large playpen in the corner, the room had grown quite crowded. However, Ruby had refused to turn one of the other unused room into a playroom, because if they began spoiling her like that when she was only one, she was going to turn rotten very quickly. Christina had pointed out that she'd had a playroom when she was younger, to which Ruby had ended the conversation with a very pointed 'Exactly'.

  
"How did you get out of the pen?" Christina asked as she placed Nelly back in her pen.

  
Nelly reached for the nearest toy, a teddy bear. She shook it and threw it over the pen. Christina took a few steps back and crossed her arms, staring at the baby. She wanted to know how Nelly had climbed out. It didn't make any sense. The pen had three-feet-high walls, and Nelly wasn't three feet tall yet. In fact, she could barely stand on her own. Christina doubted she was coordinated enough to climb over. Maybe there was a hole somewhere.

  
The phone rang downstairs, and Christina sighed.

  
"Don't move."

  
She walked downstairs as quickly as she could. She struggled with the baby gate for a moment and almost tripped on a plastic block. By the time she made it downstairs, the phone had stopped ringing. Christina groaned and returned upstairs. She hoped it hadn't been important. She picked up the blocks on her way up, and when she arrived in Nelly's bedroom, she found the baby out of her playpen, playing with a plastic phone on wheels.

  
"Alright, I see. You don't want to tell me your secret. I'll figure it out eventually."

  
Nelly babbled on, not making any more sense than before.

* * *

Ruby returned home an hour later or so. Christina was in the living room on the couch reading some lab results while Nelly played with her blocks on the ground, on a large animal-themed play-mat. As soon as she noticed her mother, Nelly threw all the toys she was playing with away and crawled at top speed to Ruby.

  
"Ma, ma, ma," she said as she went on.

  
Ruby smiled and picked up her daughter. She kissed her soft cheek and Nelly giggled.

  
"I missed you too, baby."

  
She brought Nelly back to the living room and stepped over toys to get to Christina. The blonde put her notes down instantly. Ruby leaned to kiss her, making Nelly giggle some more.

  
"I thought you said you'd call once you got out," Christina said, her voice betraying a certain anxiousness.

  
"I did but you didn't pick up."

  
"I was upstairs trying to figure out how your daughter had escaped her playpen."

  
"Did she now?" Ruby asked, looking at the baby in her arms.

  
Nelly was so happy to see her mother again she kept babbling and babbling, probably retelling her mother the story of her daring escape from the playpen.

  
"I don't know how yet, but I found her throwing toy blocks through the baby gate."

  
"Maybe she'll care to demonstrate eventually," Ruby said.

  
She kissed her daughter's little flat nose then the tangle of curls on her head. Nelly squealed but she wasn't coordinate enough to push her mother away, getting a hold of her necklace instead.

  
"So, how did it go?" Christina asked. "Did they like the demo?"

  
A large smile blossomed on Ruby's lips and instant relief filled Christina's chest.

  
"They liked it. They want more songs of the same type. At least five or six. And then we should have something running."

  
Christina jumped from the couch and pulled Ruby into a kiss. However, they were quickly interrupted when Nelly got a hold of Christina's hair and began pulling on it. Christina winced away, the bad kind of wince, and Ruby freed her from the toddler's grasp with a chuckle.

  
"At least she's not a biter," Christina said as she massaged the sore spot on her head.

  
Nelly laughed. Christina turned to Ruby again, placing both hands on her waist.

  
"But seriously, I'm really proud of you. These people better make good on their words once you've got all the songs. Let me take you out to celebrate. We'll leave Nelly to my mom for the night."

  
Ruby smiled at the thought.

  
"Your mother is going to start charging us with how often we leave her Nelly."

  
"She loves having Nelly over. She would definitely adopt her if she could."

  
Beside them the phone began to ring, forcing Christina to step away. She gave Ruby one last kiss before reaching for the phone.

  
"Hello?"

  
Behind her, Ruby had placed Nelly down on the play-mat. Then, she took a few steps away and held out her arms.

  
"Come on, come to mama," she said.

  
With a bit of help from the couch, Nelly stood up. She'd become accustomed to the game of 'Come to mama'. With every step she took, she gained a bit more confidence. Christina watched from the corner of the room while on the other side of the phone she listened to her mother.

  
"How are you?"

  
"Fine. We just discovered Nelly can escape her playpen."

  
"Good thing you have the baby gate then."

  
"Until she finds a way to climb over."

  
"Don't worry. Playpens are much easier to get past than baby gates."

  
Christina took her mother's word for it, although she was still slightly worried.

  
"Did Devon call?" Clarissa asked.

  
It took a moment for Christina to remember that he had, as she watched Nelly fall in her mother's arms.

  
"He did. Why?"

  
"He said you didn't seem interested in the family gathering."

  
"It's not that I wasn't interested. I was mostly worried that Nelly had fallen in the staircase."

  
"Will you come, then?"

  
Christina pursed her lips. Family gathering sounded as excruciating as it probably was, although she wouldn't know. There was only one Braithwhite left in the world. Atticus was family but she wouldn't consider his family her family. Ruby and Nelly were family, but between Leti who disliked her, and Marvin who called her sister every chance he got, she wasn't certain what to feel about them. Devon was family through marriage, his family was hers on that technicality alone.

  
"How many are we talking here?"

  
"About twenty people. But most of them are children, all younger than Caleb. Two of them are around Nelly's age, we can set them up in a corner and let them play."

  
"I don't know. I'll ask Ruby if she has anything and we'll let you know."

  
"Alright. Give a kiss to Nelly for me."

  
Nelly had walked almost the distance between the living room and the front door with minimal help from the furniture. Ruby picked her up every two feet or so to give her a little break. When Christina hung up, they were making their way back to the living room.

  
"Who was it?" Ruby asked, her eyes leaving Nelly but a moment.

  
"My mother. Devon called earlier. He's doing this big family gathering on the 4th of July. They wanted to know if we were coming."

  
"What did you say?"

  
"I said I'd see with you."

  
Ruby shook her head.

  
"You're going to have to stop using me as an excuse to not say yes."

  
"What do you mean?"

  
Ruby exited the conversation a second to catch Nelly in her arms and lavish her with praises and kisses. Nelly squealed happily. When her mother placed her back on the play-mat, she reached for Sophie the Giraffe and chewed on her head. Ruby sat on the couch and turned back to the blonde still standing in the corner.

  
"You know what I mean. Every time someone invites you to something and you want to go, but you want to pretend that you don't really want to, you say 'I'll ask Ruby', because you always know I'm going to say yes."

  
"Maybe I say 'I'll ask Ruby' because I want to make sure we're both available before I agree," Christina said as she sat on the other side of the couch.

  
"Sure. You ask your shrink the next time you see her. I wonder what she has to say about that."

  
Christina rolled her eyes and reached for her papers again, although she made the mental note to ask Dr. Montague during her next session.

  
"So?"

  
Christina lifted her eyes from her papers to look at Ruby.

  
"So what?"

  
"Aren't you going to call back your mom?"

  
"I can tell her the next time she calls."

  
Ruby sighed but stood up and picked up the phone.

  
"Clarissa? Hi! Christina said you just called."

* * *

They arrived at twelve on the dot, although they could have been there earlier if Christina hadn't struggled to find a spot to park. They stood by the door, Christina carrying an apple pie and Ruby carrying Nelly. Christina didn't dare reach for the doorbell and so Ruby had to, tugging her daughter against her waist to keep her steady.

  
Caleb opened the door, visibly relieved to see his older sister.

  
"Turn back before you regret it," he said, his harbinger of doom impression somewhat mitigated by his pubescent voice.

  
"Caleb, who's at the door?" Devon called from the kitchen.

  
"Too late."

  
He tried to shout but his voice cracked halfway through:

  
"It's Christina. They have a pie."

  
"Another one? Great!"

  
"Come to me if you need a rundown on everyone," he whispered as he let them in.

  
Christina nodded. Nelly was already fidgeting in her mother's arms, and so Ruby let her down. Nelly sat at her mother's feet, taking in her surroundings and recognizing her grandparents' home.

  
"Here."

  
Christina handed the pie to Caleb and took the baby bag from Ruby. She followed her brother to the kitchen as she rummaged through the bag for the bottle of wine. Through the open window of the living room, she could hear quite a crowd outside. Children loudly running around announced for quite the day. Devon was pulling piles of meat for the grill out of the fridge. He turned just in time to see Caleb and Christina walk in.

  
"Leave the pie here. Hi, Christina! Bottle? Thanks."

  
He took the bottle from her but placed it on the counter instantly. Christina had never seen Devon so nervous and frantic. He was always so calm and casual, which Christina assumed came from years working as a pediatric surgeon. She wasn't sure she would like what had him in such a troubled state.

  
"Where's Ruby? Oh, you can leave the bag with the others. Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

  
Devon strode through the living room and Christina followed. By others, he meant the large baby bag in a corner, next to a stroller. Ruby had picked up Nelly again, and the three stepped outside together, not sure what to expect.

  
Tables had been laid out over the lawn, with folding chairs near most of them. In one corner the barbecue was warming up. In the complete opposite, a play-mat had been spread out. One table was holding a variety of bottles, some alcohols, and other sodas. A group of half a dozen children was playing in the far corner of the garden, running around a tree and trying to catch each other. When the couple stepped out, every single pair of eyes turned to them.

  
"Everyone," Devon said. "This is my step-daughter, Christina, and her friend Ruby and her daughter Nelly."

  
A confusing mass of 'Hello' echoed in the garden.

  
"Let's see," Devon said thoughtfully.

  
Then, he proceeded to introduce everyone in a rapid-fire fashion, from the table nearest to the play-mat to the people nearest to the door.

  
"Besides your mother is Rebecca and beside her is Maria. By the beverage table is Jordan, Rebecca's husband, Diane, and her husband Jonathan, and here is Monica and my father Richard. In the kids you've got Richie, Lee, Janelle, Rose, Ellie, Finn, the babies are Scott and Erin. And I forgot Liv. Oh, and Allan, Monica's husband is still parking the car. I think that's everyone. I'll let you get acquainted, I need to get the meat out of the fridge."

  
Devon rushed back inside. Christina's eyes were screaming for help, and even Ruby, who was usually so good in social situations seemed at a loss for words. Fortunately, Clarissa came to her daughter's rescue. She walked up to the couple and hug them one after the other.

  
"Come on, you can let Nelly play with the others. Has she eaten yet?"

  
"No, but it'll be time soon."

  
Nelly was all-too-happy to see Clarissa as she reached to hug her. The couple followed Clarissa back to where she had been seating. Christina could feel everyone's eyes on her and she did her best to ignore them. She noticed Caleb by the beverage table and turned to Ruby.

  
"Do you want a drink?"

  
"Wine would be nice."

  
Christina nodded and stepped away from Ruby, refraining from kissing her first. She hated that Devon had introduced them as friends, but it was his family. Not much she could do if she didn't want to cause a scene. She migrated to the beverage table. Caleb watched her approach like the all-knowing master he was, drinking Doctor Pepper from a red solo cup as if it were nectar.

  
"So, give me the rundown," she whispered as she reached for the already opened wine bottle.

  
Caleb smirked and began, his eyes falling on the oldest member of the family:

  
"Grand-pa Richard. He was a funeral director. Never call him Dick, he hates it since Nixon was elected."

  
Grand-pa Richard was seating in a folding chair with his cane in one hand and a beer bottle in the other, sending glares her way. Like Devon he was bald and Christina imagined he must have been tall too, once. Caleb's eyes shifted to one of the women now talking to Clarissa and Ruby.

  
"Rebecca is the oldest after dad."

  
Rebecca was a tall woman with short hair who looked almost nothing like Devon, except in the eyes. She must have favored her mother, Christina thought.

  
"She took over the funeral home after grand-pa retired. She has three kids with this guy, Jordan."

  
Jordan was a tall guy with very short hair and high cheekbones. Although he was wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, Christina could see him very easily in a suit.

  
"He's a lawyer. Their kids are the ones with the big cheeks, you can't miss them. Richie, Liv, and Scott's over there on the play-mat."

  
By big cheeks, Caleb meant the children had all three inherited their father's cheekbones. Scott was playing with building blocks while Richie and Liv took part in the game around the tree.

  
Caleb's eyes turned back to the woman seating by her father. She looked like a shorter version of Rebecca.

  
"That's Monica. She's staying at home for now. She has four kids with Carl. Don't worry, you can't miss Carl. Anyway, Erin's on the play-mat. The other three are Lee, Janelle, and Finn."

  
Caleb looked to the woman talking with Jordan and Christina thought she was seeing double, as she looked identical to Monica. Only their haircuts and clothing differentiated them.

  
"That's Diane. She's Monica's twin. Beside is her husband Jonathan. They have a restaurant together. He's the cook. You'll see as soon as dad comes out with the meat he's gonna try to help. They have two girls, Rose and Ellie."

  
Finally, Caleb turned back to the last woman who was talking with Ruby. She looked a lot more like Devon, with broader shoulders than her sisters and hair even shorter.

  
"And that's Maria. She's the youngest, she's not married yet. She's an engineer, she works for NASA and all. She lives in Florida."

  
Christina nodded.

  
"You got it?"

  
"Yeah, I think I'll be fine. Thanks."

  
"If I were you I'd stay away from grand-pa. Apparently, he used to be a member of the Black Panthers and he really hates the rich."

  
"Got it."

  
Christina picked up Ruby's glass and hers and returned to her girlfriend.

  
"Here."

  
"Thank you."

  
Christina took a sip of whiskey as she sat down and turned to Rebecca and Maria.

  
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Rebecca said. "We've all been very excited to meet you, really. Devon seemed so happy when he told us about you. But we didn't imagine that you'd be so old."

  
"If she's old then what does that make me?" Clarissa said jokingly.

  
"Not old," Rebecca assured. "But you're just a few years younger than Maria, right?"

  
Maria was cleaning her glasses, not minding the conversation much. Before she could even rejoin, Devon stepped out, plates of meat in hands and someone following behind him.

  
"Monica! Your man finally found a parking spot."

  
"It's a bit far but it'll do," Carl assured.

  
Christina turned to look at Carl, and she immediately understood what Caleb had meant when he'd said 'you can't miss Carl'. He was the only white guy.

* * *

It was easy enough to know that Nelly had grown hungry as she began to fuss and throw her toys off of the play-mat.

  
"Nelly is hungry," Christina noted as she had a better view of the mat.

  
"I'll get her lunch ready," Ruby said as she stood up.

  
Christina stood up as well to pick up Nelly. She stopped crying but continue to fuss and pout. Christina brought her back to the table and sat the toddler on her lap.

  
"Do you babysit her often?" Rebecca asked.

  
Christina struggled to answer the question.

  
"Not babysit, no. We live together."

  
On her lap, Nelly reached for an empty plastic cup and crushed it, giggling as she did.

  
"You take care of her all the time?"

  
"I help Ruby when she needs it."

  
"I wish I had a friend like you. Even Jordan sometimes... I mean, don't get me wrong, he's busy and I'm busy, but..."

  
Christina very quickly disconnected from the conversation, focusing on Nelly instead and making sure she didn't hurt herself with the thin plastic of the cup. Rebecca blabbered on about her youngest and how Scott was difficult sometimes. Ruby returned with a heated baby meal soon enough. Christina was all-too-happy to serve as a high chair while Ruby fed small spoonfuls of orange mush to Nelly. Some of it dripped out of her mouth and fell on the baby's bib, but Nelly didn't seem to mind.

  
Soon enough they were joined by Monica and little Erin, and when the first few patties were cooked, Rebecca went to fetch Scott. Maria left the table but Clarissa stayed as if she could spend her days surrounded by cute little toddlers. Rebecca ranted on and on about work. Christina had tuned her out once again, completely focus on holding Nelly.

  
"I keep telling dad we need a bigger refrigerated chamber but he won't have it and since he still owns the home, technically."

  
"Maybe changing the old one first should be a priority, no?" Monica suggested as she struggled to hold her daughter with one hand and feed her with the other.

  
"Nah, the old one is fine. I had it changed ten years ago. It's just a matter of space. I want to reduce the parking lot but for some reason, dad is adamant we need it."

  
"Where is your funeral home?" Ruby asked because Nelly's attention had shifted from food to playing with the lid of the food.

  
"On Monroe. Logan and Sons."

  
"Really?"

  
"You know it?"

  
"Yes, you buried my mother a few years ago."

  
As discreetly as she could, Christina reached for Ruby's arm and squeezed it gently.

  
"I'm sorry," Rebecca said. "I hope we did a good job at least."

  
"Oh, it was a beautiful ceremony."

  
Nelly had dropped the lid on the grass and tried rubbing her eyes. Instead, she rubbed her cheek, smearing food on her tiny hand. Ruby reached for a paper napkin and cleaned her daughter.

  
"Someone's ready for a nap."

  
Ruby stood up and took Nelly out of Christina's arms.

  
"I put her bed in our room," Clarissa said.

  
Ruby nodded. She looked down at Christina, who gave her a look she could read instantly. Are you okay? Ruby nodded and turned to Nelly. Her daughter had already rested her head on her shoulder.

  
"I think you're really going to enjoy your nap."

  
Ruby walked inside. Caleb was hidden in the living room, playing on his GameBoy.

  
"I think your dad is serving food," Ruby said as she walked around him, picking up Nelly's bag.

  
"There's enough food for forty people, I'm waiting until everyone's served," he said, with the experience of someone used to big family gatherings.

  
Ruby didn't question his expertise. She'd gone to enough church picnics to know that people tended to go crazy around food. She climbed up the stairs and went to Clarissa and Devon's bedroom. She'd gone inside a couple of times, as Clarissa usually unfolded Nelly's bed in there. She'd always thought there was something very mature about having burgundy wallpaper. The window gave a nice view of the garden. Hopefully, the noise wouldn't wake Nelly up.

  
"Alright. Who's going to take a long long nap?"

  
Nelly's eyes were struggling to remain open. Ruby kissed her forehead before laying her daughter down in the bed umbrella. Nelly tiredly babbled, producing a few incoherent sounds as if she wanted to ask for something. Ruby looked down at her with a gentle smile and whispered a song gently. This afternoon's pick was _Dream a Little Dream of Me_. Ruby had barely finished the chorus that Nelly's eyes were already shut. Satisfied, Ruby exited the bedroom quietly.

* * *

The moment Ruby left, Christina felt all the eyes falling on her again. If Devon's sisters were anything like him, she knew she was about to be the target of many, many questions. Instead, she stood up.

  
"I'm gonna get some food," she announced and walked to the table holding all the food.

  
She crossed the garden, stirring clear of Grand-pa Richard, and picked up a paper plate. Everyone had brought something, although she knew her mother had probably contributed quite a bit to the feast. She decided to make a plate for Ruby, so she wouldn't have to go back up once she'd returned. She was reaching for some sort of pasta salad when she felt someone coming to stand beside her. She turned around and found Carl, beer in hand. He was smaller than her, with brown hair combed back and thick glasses.

  
"Hi, you must be Devon's step-daughter. I don't think we've been introduced, I'm Carl."

  
"Christina," she replied curtly, then turned back to the salad.

  
She had hoped that Carl would have gotten the message and moved on, but instead, he said:

  
"I don't want to be indiscreet, but I've heard a bit about you. I mean, mostly your company."

  
Christina barely held in a sigh. Her company. That she didn't run because she didn't care. Sure, her company.

  
"I own a small start-up, see?" Carl continued.

  
Christina tried to take a step away and reached for a hamburger. Still, Carl followed her, plowing on like a runaway train.

  
"We're developing cellphone hardware. I know Devon swears only by pagers, but I'm telling you, cellphones are the future. We've been looking for investors..."

  
Christina was seconds away from making a scene. Instead, she took a deep breath, blindly reached for a handful of plastic forks, and turned to Carl.

  
"How about you call on Monday and we'll talk more about it."

  
"Oh, sure!"

  
She walked away without giving him more information. Ruby had returned to the table. Christina sat down with a sigh which didn't escape the other women at the table.

  
"I hope Carl wasn't bothering you," Monica said as she finished feeding her fidgeting baby.

  
"It's fine."

  
Christina turned to Ruby and realized in her hurry to get away from the cellphone maniac, she'd made only one plate.

  
"Here, I'll go make another."

  
"We can share," Ruby assured.

  
So they did, taking each a fork and sharing what Christina had collected on the plate. The table emptied for a time when Monica went to put Erin to sleep and Clarissa went to help Devon. The youngest sister Maria came to sit at their table once all the babies were gone. Rebecca's husband Jordan showed up just long enough to eat, and he too liked to ask questions. Thankfully the children dragged him away for a game of football, along with a few other dads. Even Caleb was dragged out of the house. Christina was sure Devon was going to come and play, but she couldn't see him in the garden anymore.

  
He returned a moment later, carrying more meat for the grill, although he was visibly upset. Christina frowned, wondering what had him looking suddenly so small. Then, Devon's father walked out of the house and took his seat back, glaring at his son. Christina wasn't the only one to notice, as she heard Rebecca sighing.

  
"What happened?" Christina asked.

  
"Dad probably said something to Devon. It's usually how it goes. We can't have one family gathering without dad being an ass."

  
Maria nodded along as her sister spoke.

  
"For no reason?" Ruby asked.

  
"Oh yeah, it doesn't take a lot for dad to go off. Once he went on a ten-minute rant about how Devon was a failure because he couldn't cook a turkey for Thanksgiving."

  
Christina felt anger surged in her. She glared at the old man who glared right back at her. She didn't back down, and eventually, he scoffed and looked away.

  
"Has he always been like this?" Ruby asked.

  
"Mostly, yeah. But ever since Devon refused to work at the funeral home, it's become worse."

  
Christina dared a glance at Devon. He was still by the grill, talking with Clarissa. She did not doubt that her mother would make him feel better in no time at all. She turned back to the conversation, trying to catch up to what Ruby and Rebecca were talking about.

  
"What about Nelly's father?" Rebecca asked.

  
Before Ruby could find the proper answer, Christina replied:

  
"Oh no, Nelly was made through parthenogenesis. No father. Like Jesus."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"What she means is her dad is not in the picture."

  
Rebecca nodded.

  
"Well, it's good that at least you have a friend like Christina to help. And Devon and Clarissa are clearly smitten with her."

  
Christina wanted to roll her eyes and apparently, she wasn't the only one, as Maria clearly did so.

* * *

Nelly was awake. But mama wasn't there. Nelly was awake and she was hungry. She wanted some of that pie mama made. And she knew mama made pie because she helped. She sat in her high chair and chewed on a piece of apple while mama made the pie. And now she wants dessert. She began babbling, calling for mama. Maybe mama couldn't hear. Better call mommy then. Still no answer. Better call mama again, just in case.

  
When no one came for her, she did the only reasonable thing. With the help of the bed's net wall, she stood up. Now it was just a matter of climbing above. She knew how. If she could remember. Dessert. Right. One leg after the other. Nelly fell on the other side and tumbled on her butt. She giggled. Now, dessert. She crawled to the bedroom door. It was ajar. She struggled a bit but eventually pushed the door open wide enough so she could crawl on the other side. She was barely out that she was caught by grandma.

  
"What are you doing out of bed?"

  
Grandma picked her up and combed through her tuft her hair. Nelly giggled.

  
"Your mama is not going to be happy when she hears you escaped, kitten."

  
Grandma kissed her cheek and Nelly squealed.

  
"I want dessert," she said, although it didn't come out in those specific words because words were difficult, and beyond calling for her parents, Nelly still had troubles with everything else.

  
"Let's bring you to your mama, alright."

  
Grandma carried her down the stairs and into the garden. Nelly began clapping her hands when she saw mama and mommy.

  
"Mama, give me dessert," she said but didn't say, because again, words were hard.

  
"Look who I found trying to escape out of bed?" grandma said.

  
"She's becoming a real menace," mommy said with part amusement and part worry.

  
"Wait until she can walk properly," mama said.

  
Nelly was given to her mama who kissed her head and hugged her. Still, she tried to wriggle out of her grasp, asking for dessert.

  
"Someone's fussy," mama said. "Maybe she's still tired."

  
Nelly reached for the empty plate in front of her mama, wondering where all the food had gone.

  
"Are you still hungry?" mama asked.

  
"I'll go get her applesauce," mommy decided, and Nelly could only applaud the decision.

* * *

Once Nelly had eaten half of her applesauce, she was put down on the play-mat back with Scott. The two-year-old had refused to go to sleep and was playing with building blocks. Nelly wasn't interested in the blocks but rather focused on her set of plastic keys. She chewed on them and shook them to make them rattle. It was all very amusing.

  
Christina was frankly at the end of her social rope. Not since her father had dragged her to formal events had she been around so many people for so long. She decided to stay as far away from the adults as she could, and sat on the play-mat near Nelly to keep an eye on her. She surveyed the garden. Most of the children and Jordan and Jonathan were playing football. Most of the mothers were seating and talking. Whatever they were talking about it was visibly boring Maria deeply. Grandpa Richard was still in his corner, glaring at his entire family. Devon had thankfully stopped grilling food, but he was inside. Staying as far away from his father as he could, Christina guessed, because she would have done the same.

  
She was suddenly pulled back to Nelly when she heard her whimper. She looked down, just to find that Scott was now holding Nelly's keys.

  
"Hey! They're not yours! Give them back!"

  
She glared so violently at the two-year-old that he not only dropped the keys but ran to his mother. Christina picked up Nelly and the toy, handing it back to the little girl.

  
"Shush, it's alright. Here."

  
Nelly took the keys again and held them tightly in her tiny fist as she cuddled against Christina's shoulder. Christina ran soothing circles over her back, gently shushing her. A few big tears fell out of Nelly's eyes, but she quickly stopped crying, although she wouldn't let go of Christina.

  
Ruby arrived quickly after, kneeling beside her daughter and girlfriend.

  
"What happened?"

  
"The little bastard ripped the toy out her of hand," Christina hissed between her teeth, glaring in the direction of Scott.

  
"Well, first, he's two, so don't insult him. He's just a kid."

  
Christina took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Ruby was right, the kid wasn't smart enough to think beyond 'I want this toy'. Still, she was very glad he hadn't hurt Nelly, or she would have done more than glare at him.

  
"How about a little time inside?" Ruby suggested.

  
Christina nodded. The three of them stood up and walked past the group of women. Christina didn't even spare them a glance. She was still clutching Nelly, letting the little girl whimper and use the sleeve of her sundress as a handkerchief. They stepped inside, and Ruby led them upstairs, away from prying eyes. They stepped into Clarissa and Devon's bedroom and Ruby shut the door. Christina sat on the bed, still somewhat reluctant to let go of Nelly. Ruby sat beside her.

  
"Did he hurt her?" she asked.

  
"No, I don't think so."

  
Christina shifted Nelly in her arms so her mother could see her. Nelly had stopped crying. She sniffed and whimpered. Ruby pulled a tissue from the baby bag and cleaned the snot and tears off of her daughter's face.

  
"It's alright, baby. You don't have to cry. Mommy defended you."

  
Christina rolled her eyes. She refused to call herself Nelly's mother, but she never stopped Ruby from calling her as such if she wanted to.

  
"Mommy went full-on shotgun dad," she added with amusement.

  
"He could have hurt her."

  
"He's a two-year-old and you were seating right beside her. He wasn't going to strangle her over a toy."

  
Christina pursed her lips. So maybe she had overreacted. But she wasn't about to let some little kid hurt Nelly.

  
"Do you want to stay here for a little while?" Ruby suggested. "Take a break from people?"

  
"Yeah, that would be nice."

  
Once Nelly had finally stopped whimpering, she struggled out of her mother's grasp. Christina put her down, and Nelly used the bed to stand up and drum the key-ring on the bed. Ruby pulled Christina into a hug of her own.

  
"I think we're all going to stay home tomorrow," Ruby suggested.

  
"We could stay in bed all day?"

  
"I don't think Nelly is going to like the idea."

  
Nelly had already stopped playing on the bed and was now crawling around the room trying to get to the window. Christina pulled away from Ruby just long enough to rub her nose against her.

  
"I love you."

  
"I love you too."

  
Nelly struggled to stand up, but she was too small to reach the window and look outside.

  
"Ma, mo, ma, mo,"

  
Her parents moved apart to look at her. With a smile and a few tentative steps, Nelly crossed the distance to them, balancing precariously on her tiny feet until she finally caught herself on their knees.

  
"Good job, baby," Ruby said as she picked up her daughter and placed her on her lap.

  
"She's gonna be running before the end of summer."

  
Ruby placed a kiss on her daughter's head.

  
"One step at a time."

  
She stood up.

  
"Don't stay hidden up here for too long or I'll send Caleb to get you."

  
Ruby pressed a kiss on her cheek then walked out of her bedroom, taking a babbling baby with her. Christina sighed and looked around. She really didn't want to go back downstairs. It was the middle of the afternoon. She wondered if she could fake some sort of emergency to escape. She didn't know when the party was supposed to end. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to stay until the late-night firework shows exploded all over town. Nelly didn't particularly like fireworks.

  
Christina stood up and rounded the bed to pick up a framed picture on her mother's bedside table. It was a small frame for a small black and white picture. It used to be a family picture but her father had been wisely cut out. Now it was just Clarissa and two-year-old Christina. Christina smiled at the picture. There was a picture of baby Caleb beside it, and another one of the six of them at Christmas.

  
Christina was at the staircase when she heard talking from the kitchen, Devon and another man, his father no doubt.

  
"Your sister's out of her mind. We don't need another refrigerated room! This home has been working fine with one room for a hundred and forty years, we don't need another one."

  
"Things are changing, dad."

  
"I don't even know why you're even talking to me about this. You wanted to add a refrigerated room? You just had to take over the home like you were supposed to."

  
"I'm just trying to help Rebecca, alright? Because for some reason, she still thinks that you listen to me more than you listen to her."

  
Caleb seemed to appear out of nowhere, standing by Christina's side.

  
"They've been going at it for five minutes now. In a moment dad is going to walk away and in no time at all, grandpa is going to ask Rebecca to take him home."

  
"You know what, just forget it. I'm not going to argue over this with you."

  
Devon walked away, his father shouting after him:

  
"What a man you make, unable to stand your ground. Walk away, I don't care."

  
Christina clenched her fists. She was very close to going down and throwing the old man out herself. Caleb walked down the stairs and after a moment, Christina followed.

* * *

Just as Caleb had predicted, grandpa Richard asked to be taken home, and shortly after Rebecca and her family left. Monica and Diane left quickly after that. Maria was spending the night here. She began to help clean up after the party. Ruby was quick to join in, leaving Nelly with Christina. Together with Maria and Clarissa, they made quick work of the garden, throwing away the trash and bringing all the food into the kitchen. Devon was hard at work on the dishes.

  
They were about to leave when Clarissa suggested:

  
"Why don't you stay for dinner? We have plenty of leftovers to get through."

  
Christina wasn't opposed to it, and so the five adults settled around a table, keeping an eye on Nelly as she played on the play-mat with no chance of having her toys stolen. Maria was deep in talks about her work when Devon suggested:

  
"Beer, anyone?"

  
Ruby seemed on the fence but everyone else was on board. To everyone's surprise, Christina stood up then and said:

  
"I'll help you."

  
She followed Devon to the kitchen.

  
"Why did you invite your father if you knew he was going to be like that?"

  
Devon seemed surprised by her question. He pulled a beer bottle out of the fridge and replied:

  
"He's my father. It's a bit complicated not to invite him."

  
"You don't owe him anything."

  
"No, I don't," Devon agreed as he pulled another beer out of the fridge. "But he's old now. I can make a small sacrifice of having to stand him for half a day if it means the rest of the family gets to see him too."

  
Christina crossed her arms. Devon pulled the last two beers and closed the fridge.

  
"You're a good guy," she admitted. "And a good father too. God knows I could have used a father like you."

  
"Thanks. You're a good dad too. A bit overprotective but it's not too late to ease up a bit."

  
Christina rolled her eyes. Devon picked up two bottles and the bottle opener.

  
"Now come on, let's not keep the ladies waiting."

  
Christina picked up the last two bottles and followed Devon back to their family.


End file.
